Chair iron



A g- 1 1940- H. w. BOLENS ET AL 2,211,090

CHAIR IIRON 4 Filed Aug. 5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS H. (9. am BY .LLL

ATTORN EY 13, 1940- H. w. BOLENS El AL 2,211,090

CHAIR IRON Filed Aug. 5, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY N thereof may be positioned or disposed to snugly 51 fit and support the back of the user of the chair,

and in an appropriately resilient or yieldable Patented Aug. 13, 1940 CHAIR IRON Harry W. Bolens and Joseph M. Altendorf, Port Washington, Wis.; said Altendorf 'assignor to said Bolens Application August 5, 1939; Serial N0.288,624 t Claims (01. 155-157 This invention relates to an improvement in chairs with tilting backs, that is, chairs of the so-called posture-type, in which the back fashion. Chairs of this type are commonly used by stenographers or typists. The object of the present invention is to. pro- 3 vide a chair of this character, in which the ad- 1 justment of the back is very much facilitated, and yet the back is held securely at any adjustment.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the adjustment of the tension or resilient resistance which the structure presents to tilting of the back.

A further object of the invention is to provide a chair of this character having these adyantages, and which is simple and'compact in its construction, reliable and comfortable in use, and easy and comparatively inexpensive to manufaoture.

Other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully described and particu: larly pointed out in the appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is afragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but showing most of the parts in side elevation, the view illustrating, however, a different vertical adjustment of the back from that shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in horizontal cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in top plan of means providing for the vertical adjustment of the back and also showing some of the associ-- ated structure.

Figure 5 is a view in taken on line 5--5 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is aview partly in side elevation and partly .in longitudinal vertical cross section,-il-

lustrating a slightly different embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 7 is a view in horizontal cross section taken online 66 of Figure 6; 5 Referring to v 1 he l:l rawings, it will be seen that vided between the nut and the upper end of The body portion of the sheet metal head rests vertical cross section,

in both embodiments of: the invention the chair comprises generallya base having legs ll, only fragments of which'are shown. The seat l2 of' the chair is supported on the base I!) bymeans of a chair iron, designated'generally at l3. The 6'- chair is provided with a tiltable back, desig'-' nated generally at M, and the mechanism for mounting, tilting, and adjusting the back is designated generally at l5.

A vertical'spindle lB'is disposed ina bush- 1'0' ing H which lines the vertical opening in the chair base. 'A'nut I8 is threaded on the spindle and engages the upper end" of a ball bearing or an anti-friction washer or similar device l9 prothe bushing- The nut [8 may be equipped with the usual knurled cap riveted to'the nut I 8 andreleasably retained in axial position by a In bothembodiments of the invention a head is fixed to the upper end of the spindle Hi, the head being designated at" 22in Figures 1 to 5, and at 22' in Figures 6 and 7. In fact, the two embodiments, of' theinvention illustrated differ from each other only in the details of construction of the heads 22 and 22', and in the type of adjustable resilient or tension means designated at R and R employed in the two structures for yieldably or resiliently'resisting backward tilting movement of the chair back I4.

In both structures the head 22 or 22,--as the case may be,-,is constituted of a generally U- shaped piece of heavy sheet metal fixed to and s pported on the upper end of the spindle I6.

on and-is riveted or otherwise suitablysecured 5 tov a flanged collar 23 fixed in any suitable way to the .unthreaded upper end of the spindle [6. In both constructions the upper endsof the legs of the U-shaped head are riveted as'at 25 to the arms 26 of the spider of the chair. These arms .are .of annular cross. section, and have their ends engaged flush with and fastened by means of screws 21 to the seat l2 of the chair; In this way, the seat, although. vertically ad'- justable,.is fixe'dagainst any rocking orv tilting, this. action being left to the back of the chair. The adjustable tilting mounting l5 for the chair back is largely identical in both constructions, and comprises generally two main sections designated at 30 and 3|, the section 30 being combined with the back 14 of the chair, and the section 3| being supported in one instance on the head 22, and in the other on the head 22' of the ch air iron. The sections 30 and 3| are interconnected for angular adjustment relative to each other, and are releasably retained in any selected angular adjustment. They are pivotally mounted at their forward ends as a unit on the head 22, or 22', as the case may be, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

The section 3| comprises an inverted channel 32, the forward end of which, in the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5, has a mounting bracket 33 riveted thereto. The arms 34 of the bracket 33 are pivotally connected by means of a pivot pin 35 to the legs of the head 22. The

body portion of this bracket has laterally extending projections or bearing points 36, which are disposed on the opposite sides of a tension rod 31, and engage or bear against a spring abutment 38 loosely encircling the rod and engaged with one end of a tension spring 39. The spring 39 is confined between this abutment 38 and an adjustable abutment 40, also loosely encircling the tension bar and controlled as to its position by means of a hand nut 41. the rod opposite the hand nut 40 is headed as at 31, and bears against the margin of an opening 42 provided in the transverse member 40' of the head 22, and through which the rod extends.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures.

6 and '7, the adjustable tilting mounting also has its section 3| constituted of an inverted channel designated as 32, and similar to the channel 32 except that its forward end is slightly diferentin construction to adapt it for use with the different type of cushion R employed in thislform.

The forward ends of the side flanges of the channel 32 have integral enlarged extensions 43 provided with transversely alined apertures to receive the pivot pin 35' corresponding to pivot pin 35, but supported on a separate bracket 24" rather than on the stamping 24 itself. The

bracket 24 is disposed within the lateral con fines of the stamping 24, but rearwardly therefrom, and is secured to the flanged collar 23 by the same rivets which secure the stamping 24 thereto. The mounting bracket 33 is omittedin this construction. The forward end of the body portion of the inverted channel 32' is formed with an integral hook-like extension 44 which hooks about a pivot pin 44 having its ends fixed in openings in the extensions 43, and having intermediate portions passing through transversely alined openings of a yoke 45 straddling the hooklike extension 44 and fastened to the rearward end of a tension rod 31' corresponding to the tension rod 31 and passing throughan opening in a transverse member 400. of the head '22. The transverse member 400. of head 22' is integral therewith and! corresponds; to the transverse member 40 of the head 22', although disposed at the opposite end of the head and of a'size somewhat larger than that of the member 40 in order to serve as an abutment for a rubber cushion block 41 which replaces in this embodimentthe tension spring 39. The tension rod" 31' passes loosely through an opening, in this rubber block 41, and also through a cap 48 fitted over the small end of the rubber block. A threaded portion of the rod 3'! is interthreaded with a hand nut 41, corresponding to the hand nut 4i, and is adjustable to control the tension of the rubber block.

In the remaining features of their constructions the adjustable tilting mountings l5 are identical, and one description will apply to both.

The section 30 of each mounting I5 is con- The end 0fv stituted to provide for vertical adjustment of the back, and is combined with the section 3i to provide for tilting or angular adjustment thereof. For these purposes this section 30 includes an adjustable body plate 50 having rearwardly bent margins or flanges 5! which slide against a fixed back supporting plate 52 fastened by screws or similar devices 52' to the chair back. The adjustable, body plate 50 slides in guides or ways 53 and 5d, the way 53 being riveted or fixed to the supporting plate 52, and the way 53 being adjustably secured thereto so as to provide for vertical adjustment of the member body plate 50 and its clamping in any adjustment. For this latter purpose the way 54 is loosely mounted on rivets 55, the rivets having shanks slightly greater in length than the thickness of the plate constituting the way or guide 54, so that they provide in effect fulcrums for the way 54 on supporting plate 52. A clamping screw 56 equipped with a hand-wheel 51 is threaded through the way 54 and bears against the supporting plate 52 to tilt the way about its rivets 55 to cause it to clamp or release the plate 5|.

A U-shaped supporting bracket 58 is riveted to the body plate 50, and its legs overlap the rear ends of the side flanges of the channel 32, or 32', as the case may be, and are pivotally interconnected therewith by means of a pivot pin 59.

Means is provided for adjusting the section 30 angularly with respect to the section 3| about their pivotal connection 53, and this means includes two supporting brackets, designated at 60 and GI, riveted or otherwise suitably secured to and depending from the channel 32, or 32, as the case may be. The attaching portions of the brackets are disposed flatly against one another and are secured to their channels by common rivets. The bracket Bil is formed with alined bearing openings, through which an adjusting screw 52 extends. The screw-62 is connected by means of a double or channel-shaped link 63 to a short shaft 66 fixed to the plate 52, the ends of the link 63 being pivoted to the screw and shaft, respectively. A beveled gear 65 is disposed between theparallel members of its supporting bracket 68 and has an internally threaded hub threadedly engaged with the screw 62, and its teeth mesh with a similar beveled gear 66 fixed to a cross shaft 61 supported in the bracket 6| and rotated by means of a hand-wheel 68.

The bracket 5! also has parallel supporting members formed with alined bearing openings for its shaft 6?. The gear 66 is pinned to its shaft 61, and due to the rotative engagement of its hub with bracket GI, and its mesh with gear 65, maintains the shaft 6'! against axial movement.

The beveled gears 65 and 65 can be conveniently constructed of stampings, and by turning" the hand-wheel 65 they are effective to transmit tilting movement to the chair back I4 through the link connection 63 between the screw shaft 62 and the short shaft 54. Such adjustment may be conveniently accomplished by the user of the chair while occupying the same.

With this construction the three adjustments incorporated in the chair may very readily and easily be made by the user of the chair, and without any difficulty the back may be moved up, and down with ease, and then firmly clamped in the desired adjustment. It may be tilted back and forth to the proper angle of adjustment, and the tension or resistance presented to backward tilting of the chair back may be readily controlled. These advantages are accomplished in changes in the size, shape, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, as will be understood by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

We claim:

1. A posture chair of the type including a base, a seat, and a tiltable back, and comprising a spindle mounted on the base, a head fixed to the upper end of the spindle, a spider fixed to the head and to the under side of the seat, and.

an adjustable tiltable mounting for the chair back comprising a pair of pivotally intercon nected sections, means connecting one of said sections to the chair back, means pivotally connecting the other of said sections to the head, adjustable resilient means combined with the head and with the mounting to resist tilting movement of the mounting relative to the head, and means for angularly adjusting the sections of the mounting with respect to each other and including a short shaft connected to one of said sections, a screw mounted on the other of said sections, a link interconnecting the screw and the short shaft, and hand-operated means for turning the screw.

2. A posture chair of the type including a base, a seat, and a tiltable back, and comprising a spindle mounted on the base, a head fixed to the upper end of the spindle, a spider fixed to the head and to the under side of the seat, and an adjustable tiltable mounting for the chair back comprising a pair of pivotally interconnected sections, means connecting one of said sections to the chair back, means pivotally connecting the other of said sections to the head, adjustable resilient means combined with the head and with the mounting to resist tilting movement of the mounting about its pivot to the head, and means for angularly adjusting the sections of the mounting with respect to each other and including a short shaft connected to one of said sections, a U-shaped bracket supported on the other of said sections and having alined openings in its legs, a screw extending through the openings of the bracket, a link interconnecting the screw and the short shaft, a beveled gear disposed between the legs of the bracket and having an internally threaded hub with which the screw meshes, a second bracket mounted adjacent the first bracket, a shaft mounted on said second bracket,

a beveled gear fixed to the shaft and meshed with said first named beveled gear, and a hand wheel fixed to said last-named shaft and acting when manipulated to turn the beveled gears and axially adjust the screw.

3. A posture chair of the type including a base, a seat, and a tiltable back, and comprising a spindle mounted on the base, a head fixed to the upper end of the spindle, a spider fixed to the head and to the under side of the seat, a tiltable mounting for the chair back including a pair of sections, means interconnecting the sections for angular adjustment and for maintaining them in any selected adjustment, means pivotally mounting the forward section on the head, resilient means combined with the head and the mounting to resist tilting movement of the mounting about its pivotal connection with the head, means adjustably connecting the chair back to the rear section of the mounting and including an adjustable body plate fixed to the rear section and having angled margins, a supporting plate fixed to the chair back and having a pair of angled ways engageable with theangled margins of the body plate, one of said ways being fulcrummed on the supporting plate so as to be clamped or released from its margin of the body plate, and manually operable means for adjusting the fulcrummed way and securing it in clamping position.

4. A posture chair of the type including a base, a seat, and a tiltable back, and comprising a spindle mounted on the base, a head fixed to the upper end of the spindle, a spider fixed to the head and to the under side of the seat, a tiltable mounting for the chair back including a pair of sections, means interconnecting the sections for angular adjustment and for maintaining them in any selected adjustment, means pivotally mounting the forward section on the head, resilient means combined with the head and the mounting to resist tilting movement of the mounting about its pivotal connection with the head, means adjustably connecting the chair back to the rear section of the mounting and including the adjustable body plate fixed to the rear section, ways mounted upon the chair back, one of said ways being fixed, the other of said ways being rockable into and out of clamping engagement with the adjustable body plate, and manually operable means for rocking said adjustable way.

5. A posture chair of the type including a base, a seat, and a tiltable back, and comprising a spindle mounted on the base, a head fixed to the upper end of the spindle, a spider fixed to the head and to the under side of the seat, a tiltable mounting for the chair back including a pair of sections; means interconnecting the sections for angular adjustment and for maintaining them in any selected adjustment, means pivotally mounting the forward section on the head, resilient means combined with the head and the able wayland engageable with the chair back to bring the associated way into and out of clamping engagement with the adjustable supporting plate.

HARRY W. BOLENS. JOSEPH M. ALTENDORF. 

